


Declining the Night Bus

by Cait_Sidhe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bonding, Letters, Missing Persons, Refugees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13073697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_Sidhe/pseuds/Cait_Sidhe
Summary: After blowing up his Aunt Marge, Harry Potter runs from the Dursleys, and accidentally summons the Night Bus; however, he declines taking it, which leads him to finding-- and running away with-- Sirius Black.





	Declining the Night Bus

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little fluffy idea I had. Hope it's passable-- I have never in my life before written something G-rated! Well, except maybe as a child, though the few stories saved from then are not such (I was a messed up child).
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; that right belongs to JK rowling.

BANG. 

 

Harry leapt backwards as a humongous purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of him-- “The Night Bus,” according to the gaudy gold lettering above the windshield. A purple-clad wizard leapt out, explaining to Harry how it was transport for stranded witches and wizards; apparently, he had summoned it when accidentally holding his wand out after seeing that humongous black dog. The conductor-- Stan-- said they could take him anywhere he’d like…

 

“I’m sorry,” Harry told him reluctantly. “I actually called the bus by accident; I’ll keep you in mind for the future though.” He couldn’t get on that; for all he knew, the Ministry was already looking for him, and if anyone on the bus knew that, they could turn him in…

 

“ ’Choo sure ’bout that?” Stan asked. “ ’Choo look pretty stranded to me, an’ that’s what we’re for.”

 

“N-no, I’m waiting for someone,” Harry lied.

 

“Hmm, alrighty then. ’Choo have a nice nigh’, then. Ernie, take ’er away!” He leapt back inside milliseconds before the bus vanished with a horribly bright flash of light.

 

Harry shivered a little; a slight chill had settled in the air once the sun went down, and he hadn’t brought a jacket. He had to leave here, though-- what if the black dog was still around? Harry’s heart raced. Quickly he gathered his things and began moving down the street at a fast pace-- well, as quickly as he could while lugging around a trunk and owl cage. Surely he must be quite a sight to any neighbors glancing out their windows; he could only imagine what Aunt Petunia would say to that! Of course, he would never see her again, after blowing up his aunt. They would never take him back, and even if they did, he wouldn’t want to go anyway. With the way they treated him, he’d probably be better off on the streets… well, no, maybe not. His Aunt and Uncle did at least give him a place to sleep, and didn’t let him starve to death, however much it felt like they would. Perhaps he could find an orphanage somewhere, pretend he couldn’t recall who he was… no, the muggle police would probably get involved with that, and then the Ministry could find him, maybe. He shivered again, stopping for a while, willing himself to calm his racing heart. Maybe he could go to Mrs. Figg? She was annoying, but much nicer than the Dursleys, so would probably let him spend one night while he thought about where to go. Or would they look for him there?

 

Harry jumped and spun around as something fell over his shoulders.

 

“Easy, there, it’s just a cloak; you looked cold,” said a haggard man. Harry squinted in the dark, trying to get a better look: the man had messy black shoulder-length hair, ragged clothing, and huge dark pockets under his eyes, giving the appearance that he hadn’t eaten or slept well in years.

 

Harry leapt back. “Y-you’re that criminal that was on the news today!” He gasped. “S-stay away!” He pulled his wand out and pointed it at the man.

 

“Whoa, there, easy, easy, I won’t hurt you!” The man told him, holding his hands up. “They have it all wrong, I’m innocent, I swear!”

 

“Then why were you in prison?”

 

“It wasn’t a fair trial, okay? Now, put the wand down; we should probably move away from the middle of a muggle street.”

 

“Wait, you’re a wizard?” Harry asked. That was a stupid question; the man had used the word ‘muggle’, and knew what a wand was-- what else would he be? He reluctantly allowed the main to direct them down a narrower side street and into a crop of woods.

 

“Well, yes; you didn’t know that? Oh, but of course not, those muggle relatives of yours don’t tell you anything, do they? You even have to do your homework in secret…” he had a look of disgust on his face. “How could Dumbledore even consider leaving you in a place like that?”

 

“You know Dumbledore?” Harry gasped in wonder.

 

The man looked rather uncomfortable. “Well, used to, at least; we got along quite well, actually, until I was framed and thrown in Azkaban for twelve years.”

 

“A-about that…” Harry asked nervously. “What exactly did you do-- er, were accused of doing-- that made them put you there? The muggle news wasn’t very specific…”

 

“Ah, yes… well, sit down, this will take some explaining.”

 

Harry’s head was spinning with information once the man-- Sirius Black-- finished his story. How much should he believe? Something inside him told him the man was being truthful, though. He said-- well, showed-- that he was the big black dog, which was how he escaped. He explained how he had convinced Harry’s parents to use a different friend of theirs, named Peter Pettigrew, to protect the secret where they were hidden, for some protection charm, since Sirius was too obvious a choice-- but then Peter betrayed them, which was how Voldemort had found them. So Sirius had gone to confront Peter, who had blown up the street, then vanished, leaving Sirius to take the blame. Sirius had resigned himself to Azkaban-- after all, it had been his idea to make Peter the secret-keeper, which led to his best friend’s death-- until he saw the picture of the Weasleys in the Daily Prophet, with a rat the looked suspiciously like Peter’s own animagus form and missing the exact finger which had been the only part of him found at the crime scene… And then, to top it off, Sirius was Harry’s godfather!

 

“I believe you,” Harry told him. “And I’m a refugee too-- I did some pretty bad magic back there, in front of muggles, which the Ministry thinks is the second time even though last year it was a house-elf, so if they find me I’ll be expelled from Hogwarts and maybe even sent to Azkaban!”

 

“Relax, you won’t get sent to Azkaban; it was a bit of accidental magic, and you’re a child. You probably won’t get expelled, either.”

 

“But this is the second time. Last year they said if it happened again I would be expelled! And I just can’t keep staying with my Aunt and Uncle, I just can’t…” Harry realized with horror that tears were forming at the corners of his eyes.

 

“Whoa, there. It’s okay; you can, er, cry if you want to.” Sirius tried giving Harry an awkward hug, which made Harry laugh a bit.

 

“Not very good with children, are you?” Harry teased, feeling better.

 

Sirius blushed; at least, Harry thought he did, for it was difficult to tell as the area was only lit by moonlight. “Well, no; I was locked up for so long, and last I remember you, you were an infant. Now though, you’re what, thirteen? Your birthday was a few days back, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Harry grinned. “July 31st.” He frowned. “Though it was somewhat marred by Aunt Marge’s visit.”

 

Sirius cringed. “Yeah, I saw that… she isn’t very nice, is she.”

 

“No… you’ve been watching me?”

 

“Er. Well, I can’t exactly get to Peter in Egypt, so I figured I’d go see how my godson was doing, thinking you must be having the life of luxury, being the famous Harry Potter and all… imagine my surprise to find you stuck here, of all places, with those horrible people! Hasn’t anyone noticed how bad you’re treated?”

 

Harry looked away. “I tried telling some people, but they never believed me. Teachers when I was younger would decide I was lying, since my Uncle and Aunt are ‘upstanding citizens’ otherwise; Dumbledore said I was exaggerating, that it couldn’t nearly be as horrid as I said…”

 

“Well, we’re going to set that straight then! I’ll talk to Dumbledore.”

 

Harry looked at his godfather in disbelief. “Er. You do realize that if you do that, you’ll get sent back to Azkaban?”

 

Sirius’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, probably…” Then his eyes lit up with vigor. “But that’s why I’ll capture Peter first! Show them he isn’t dead, have him explain to them all what he did! Then he can rot in Azkaban for betraying James!”

 

“And my mother,” Harry pointed out.

 

“Yes, her too.”

  
  


*******

  
  


Harry sat on the bed in the shoddy motel gulping down the microwave ramen Sirius had made him. Hedwig, who had quickly found him after he’d run, pecked his hand, so he held out a noodle for her to nibble on.

 

“Sorry it’s not more substantial food,” Sirius apologized. “Not much you can get on such a meager amount of muggle money, especially with getting this room as well.”

 

“No, it’s great!” Harry told him earnestly. “More than Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon usually let me have.”

 

It had been a few days since Harry had run away; he and Sirius initially tried going to Muggle London, where Sirius’s old family home apparently lay-- it was empty now, so could possibly make a good hiding place. However, London had been crawling with aurors-- Sirius cursed himself for forgetting that of course it would be, as the Ministry was there-- so they’d quickly dodged away from there. They’d decided to try heading far into the countryside, where there was less chance of people recognizing them.

 

Tonight, as it was raining, they had opted to stay in a shabby, yet cheap, motel they had luckily come across. The money for such came from a wallet they had found on the side of the road; they took the cash and left the rest there, in case someone came looking for it.

 

“Here, you want the rest of mine?” Sirius asked, as Harry finished his. “You still look hungry.”

 

“So do you,” Harry pointed out. “You eat it.” Sirius had been trying things like that the whole journey, insisting on Harry’s comfort over his; he seemed to be trying to make up for his twelve years of absence from Harry’s life. Nevertheless, he was a really fun guy to be around-- Harry lamented the fact that he had missed out on having a godfather all these years, due to a bloody rat named Peter. He mentioned this to Sirius.

 

“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Sirius growled.

 

“Don’t do that! If you do, he won’t be able to explain what happened! They’ll lock you back up, thinking you wanted to finish the job!”

 

“But I do want to!”

 

“No, killing isn’t the answer; he needs to be locked up. Suffer, like you did. He can’t suffer if he’s dead.”

 

Sirius laughed. “You have a point, there, Harry! Bit of a mean streak in you, huh?”

 

“Er. Well, he did lead to my parents’ death; can you blame me?”

 

“Not at all; I feel the same way. We’re going to get that bastard.”

  
  


*******

  
  


“Harry. I really think you should talk to Dumbledore, or at least send him a message letting him know you’re okay,” Sirius commented. They were sitting in a bus stop, taking a quick rest to nibble on some trail mix they’d picked up before continuing onwards. Sirius was perusing a muggle newspaper.

 

“Why should I? I’m not going to be allowed to return to Hogwarts,” Harry muttered glumly.

 

“Look, I really don’t think they’d expel you that easily…”

 

“No, I’m pretty sure they would,” Harry insisted.

 

Sirius sighed. “I really think they won’t. Harry, look--” He turned the paper to show an article-- “They even have you in the muggle papers now-- and not as a criminal-at-large, but as a lost, possibly kidnapped, child. Please, you have to at least tell Dumbledore you’re okay; at this rate, they’re going to have the entire world looking for you. Your friends are probably all really worried.”

 

Harry’s stomach lurched at the thought of his friends. “Probably… I guess maybe I can send Ron and Hermione letters, at least.” Harry dug through his trunk for some parchment, and wrote identical notes, addressed to each of his best friends:

 

_ I’m sorry for not contacting you sooner; don’t worry, I’m okay. I left willingly, regardless of what the Daily Prophet is probably saying-- I saw an article about it in a muggle paper, of all things, suggesting kidnapping, which is not the case. I’m with a friend, and safe. Don’t tell anyone else.  _

_ \--Harry _

  
  


*******

  
  


A few days later, Hedwig returned with three letters, as well as a copy of the Daily Prophet courtesy of Hermione. Harry rolled his eyes at the Prophet’s exaggerated telling of the story, and handed it to Sirius.

 

“Hmm, yep, Rita Skeeter is the author,” Harry’s godfather commented, with a chuckle. “If you’re ever asked to have an interview with her-- don’t. I didn’t get to see the paper much in Azkaban, but from what I did see-- and this-- she is a master of twisting words and stories until you can’t even recognize what the original content was. Anything to sensationalize it.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Harry turned to the letters.

 

_ Harry- _

_ That was a very reckless thing to do! You know, there’s that killer Sirius Black on the loose, and rumor has it he wants to kill you! Please, everyone is worried about you; please come back. _

_ -Hermione _

 

“You want to kill me, huh?” Harry asked Sirius, raising his eyebrows and smirking teasingly.

 

“Hmm. Figured that rumor would pop up. According to the papers, apparently I whispered ‘He’s at Hogwarts’ in my sleep a few times-- referring to the rat, of course-- and they took it to mean you, as they think I’m a vicious Death Eater and all that. I promise, I do not want to kill you!”

 

“Well, if you did, I’d probably be dead by now,” Harry said, laughing, as he turned to the next letter.

 

_ Harry- _

_ Look, mate, I understand that you wanted to leave your relatives, but why go underground? You can come stay with me; we can return from Egypt early if needed. I won’t tell mum you wrote, like you asked, but please, think about it. We’re all worried. _

_ -Ron _

_ P.S. If you ever disappear again, and let me worry a whole week when you’re actually fine, I’ll kill you myself. _

 

Sirius chuckled. “Reminds me of something your father would say.”

 

“Yeah…” Guilt weighed upon Harry. He didn’t want to worry his friends so much! But what choice did he have? He was a refugee, on the run… Harry’s heart nearly stopped as he saw the next letter. The address was in Dumbledore’s handwriting. He slowly opened it, fearing for what it said. Was it his official expulsion? 

 

_ Harry-- _

_ Only myself, the Minister, and your relatives know the true reason you fled. Please, do not worry. It was mere accidental magic, entirely understandable; I promise you, there will be no charges nor school repercussions for it, and you are entirely welcome back to Hogwarts. _

_ I implore you to please return. Tell me your location, and I will come retrieve you; you can stay at the Leaky Cauldron, if you do not wish to return to your relatives, for the remainder of this summer. Tom-- the owner-- says he would be delighted to host you, free of charge. _

_ I am not sure if you are aware, but it is quite dangerous for you right now. One of Voldemort’s devoted followers has escaped Azkaban, and surely wished to do you harm. Please, let us find you before he does. _

_ \--Dumbledore _

 

“I’m not expelled!” Harry proclaimed, feeling like his heart was singing.

 

Sirius grinned. “See? I told you!”

 

“I better write him back; I need to explain about you too. Could you also include a letter, explaining the situation with Peter?”

 

“Sure… not sure if he’ll take me at my word, though. Also, er… well, I haven’t written anything in twelve years, might be a bit illegible...”

 

Harry laughed. “He’s Headmaster of a school, and used to teach; pretty sure he can read anything.” He took out his quill and ink, and began writing, back against a tree and using a book for the writing surface; they were in a copse of woods again.

 

_ Headmaster Dumbledore-- _

_ I apologize for running away. I panicked, thinking, as you correctly concluded, that I would be expelled, or even thrown in Azkaban. Someone saved me, though-- bear with me, I know it will shock you, but it was my godfather who helped me. Sirius Black. He has included a letter for you, as well, explaining things. He was framed by Peter Pettigrew, who is alive and currently Ron’s pet rat; please investigate this (preferably before Sirius finds him first, because I want Sirius freed, which won’t happen if he decides to take revenge). Sirius has been trying to convince me to contact you for days, telling me that I wasn’t going to be expelled, but I was stubborn. I would definitely like to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, but only if Sirius can too. Thus, I won’t tell you where I am yet-- not until this matter is resolved. _

_ \--Harry _

 

Sirius nodded as he read Harry’s letter. “I’m not too thrilled with handing over Peter’s punishment to them, but you’re right, it won’t do much if I kill him. People should know what he did to James. And Lily.”

 

Harry sent the letter off with Hedwig, along with quick notes to Ron and Hermione saying that he needed to resolve something before returning, but would soon-- and to Ron, instructions to not let his pet rat out of his sight.

  
  


*******

  
  


It was another week and a half before Harry was contacted again; he was starting to wonder if they had forgotten about him. Sirius assured him that investigations just took time, and not to worry too much about it. In the meantime, they continued wandering around-- there wasn’t much else to do, and they had to be careful not to stay in one place too long anyway, in case aurors were still about. Sirius, as usual, stayed in dog form much of the time, unless they were taking a break between travelling or sleeping-- in motels if they could find money, but mostly abandoned buildings, woods, or bus stops. Finally, as they were looking for a place to sleep one night, a letter arrived-- along with a larger scroll, addressed to Sirius. Harry tore open the letter, which was clearly from Dumbledore.

 

_ Harry-- _

_ Thank you for bringing to light this tragic oversight by our justice system. I am pleased to inform you that we acquired Peter Pettigrew, and he confessed to everything under veritaserum. He will be properly tried and punished for his crimes. Sirius Black has, in light of this new evidence and realizations that his trial had not been quite as fair and thorough as it should have been, been fully exonerated from his sentence and forgiven for anything related to his escape (although the stubborn Minister took some convincing; he could not, however, stand up to the Wizengamot, whom decided to declare him innocent, many remembering fighting by his side in the war and, allegedly, claiming they had questioned his involvement from the start) _ \-- Harry snorted when he read that part. Questioned it from the start, yeah, right. --  _ Now, if you would be so kind as to tell me where you are, I would like to collect you and Sirius. _

_ \--Dumbledore _

 

“Sirius, you okay?” Harry asked as he turned to his godfather, for he was staring at the parchment with a look of stunned disbelief.

 

“Harry...” Sirius’s voice was choked, as though he was holding back tears. “I- I’ve been… they’ve absolved me of all crimes. I’m- I’m free… Thank you...”

 

Harry beamed. “I’m glad. Now I finally get a godfather.” Harry hugged Sirius tightly. “I can live with you too, right?”

 

Sirius smiled. “I don’t see why not.”

  
  


*******

  
  


CRACK

 

Harry and Sirius jumped up at the noise of apparition; they had been sleeping at an old bus stop that seemed to be in disuse. They looked around wildly, Harry pulling out his wand; were they under attack?

 

“Relax, my boys; I am merely here to retrieve you,” Dumbledore informed them, and their demeanors softened. “I would assume you’d like to stay in a bed tonight, rather than on a bench? And perhaps take a shower, too, and get a warm meal… ah, and Sirius, I have your wand here, too.”

 

Sirius’s eyes filled with water as he gently held his wand.

 

“You recall how to apparate? If you don’t mind taking Harry’s trunk, I can take Harry himself…”

 

Harry and Sirius smiled as they returned back to the wizarding world, both free-- Sirius from an unfair incarceration, and Harry from the Dursleys... or so he hoped.

**Author's Note:**

> And with that, the entire plot of book 3 has been resolved before Harry even returns to school!


End file.
